It doesn’t matter how careful you are it’s very easy to get by a clever attempt to get your credit card / bank details and rob you blind before you know it. We’re going to pick on Barclaycard deliberately for the simple reason we just caught an attempt and when we phoned barclaycard they simply never seemed to care. All we got was “We never send e-mails.”
Here’s their attempt, we’ll tell you what to look for to identify whether its a fake or genuine.
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This is an outbound message only. Please do not reply.
Thank you for registering to Verified by Visa services. This free service provides added safety when you shop online.
Activation Details:
Activation date: 07/10/11
Merchant at which activation took place: AVIVA INSURANCE UK LIMITED
Amount of purchase: 313.17 GBP
Login password: D4***un
The service is now active for your Barclays card with reference no. ***8123
If this registration hasn’t been made by the certified owner of the account, please download the attached form and fill in all the details that are required to confirm your personal data. After confirming your personal data you will receive an email in order to reset your Verified by Visa password.
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Looks authentic and can often be accompanied by a form or forms. These usually ask for your details for verification. Whatever you do DON’T do any of the following.
1. Open any zip files that may be attached to the e-mail.
2. Don’t take out of your junk filter. Providers like Googlemail and Hotmail have special protection to help you. USE IT!.
3. Don’t be fooled into believing this is anything other than a scam. Phone your Bank questioning the e-mail.
MOST BANKS NEVER SEND E-MAILS DO NOT ASK FOR INFORMATION.
Easy steps to check whether it definately is a scam. This applies to any suspicious mail asking for information.
First of all check who the sender is. In this case it was test@ test.com (Don’t bother going there, its a scam). Secondly, ignore the fact that if you click on the logo in the mail it takes you to the real site. They often steal the image from the genuine company to make their e-mails appear authentic. Hover over any links. For example Barclaycard Customer support, this one is real and if you opened it you’d go to the genuine site, (you can try it out with our link above which we’ve confirmed is safe.) but in the process of doing so you may get this kind of warning from hotmail.
“Attachments, pictures, and links in the message have been blocked for your safety. Would you like to unblock the content of the message?”
OPENING A MAIL WILL SHOW THE IMAGES WHICH THEMSELVES CAN CONTAIN TROJANS AND VIRUS’S
Once you’ve opened your e-mail there is every chance your going to get infected so just DON’T be tempted. Finally, the easiest way to avoid the scam is to ignore the mail no matter how convincing, (NEVER CLICK LINKS!)
GO THE FINAL STEP AND REPORT PHISHING HERE Click on the red text. It’s safe with us.
